San Antonio Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge has averaged 39.5 points in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals.(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Oklahoma City guard Dion Waiters is never scared to say anything on his mind.

So, when asked about the Thunder’s defensive strategy against San Antonio star LaMarcus Aldridge in the first two games, which has been to not double-team him, he bottom-lined the reason why for everyone.

“One man can’t beat you,” said Waiters to reporters. “So we’re fine with that. If they want to continue to get out of their offense and throw the ball down there to him, we’re fine with that. One guy can’t beat us, no matter how much he scores.”

And yet Aldridge almost did on Monday, scoring 41 points in the Spurs one-point loss to Oklahoma City. He was the only Spurs player to score more than 15 points. Read more…

Oklahoma City will give the Cavaliers a protected future first-round draft pick and send guard Lance Thomas to the Knicks, league sources said. As part of the trade, the Cavaliers will send rookie center Alex Kirk, forward Lou Amundson and a 2019 second-round pick to the Knicks, sources said.

The Knicks are also expected to waive center Samuel Dalembert, according to Wojnarowski.

While it initially appeared Reggie Jackson, a former standout at Palmer High in Colorado Springs, would be headed to New York, his name was not included among the pieces of the trade, though some are reporting that he could still be unloaded. Jackson filled in for the Thunder while Russell Westbrook was out with a knee injury and averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 assists and 5.2 rebounds in 13 games as a starter to all but save Oklahoma City’s season. As a result, his market value went up, and he’s set to be a free agent this summer.

The deal, which is primarily a salary dump for the Knicks, sparked a wave of reactions on Twitter because Phil Jackson actually found a way to unload Smith, a former Nugget who has long been troublesome off the court and has played in only 24 games this season because of injury. In those games, he posted his lowest player efficiency rating (11.7) since his rookie season, according to Basketball-Reference, while averaging 10.9 points on 40.2 percent shooting from the field and 35.6 percent from 3-point range.

(It’s worth noting that Smith is the Nuggets’ all-time leader in attempted (2,010) and made (768) 3-point field goals. His 38.2 percent from three ranks No. 8 in franchise history. Randy Foye surpassed Smith last season to rank No. 2 with the most 3-pointers in a season (189).

But enough of the boring details. Let’s get to the fun part: The reactions. Read more…

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.